Painting!

When weather gets cold, we mums have to find activities that can keep our little monsters busy and entertained. It is a little complicated for a two year old,they are high on energy and hard to sit down  calmly. Since you cant give them coloring pencils or crayons because in my case Fafa has a habit of chewing things up so she cant be trusted with them as of yet. But i took the risk of water paints with her. I cant let her do it alone for various reasons but under my eye she was quite good with them and enjoyed the activity. I laid a plastic mat for her to sit on, gave her some white paper sheets and water paints with those big brushes(which are perfect for her age since obviously she cant draw anything so they were good for random strokes or playing with colors).

Eventually, she got bored of using brushes and wanted to use her hands. Initially i didn't want her to use hands but then i thought first; they are water paints and can be washed away easily, second;what's the point of painting? if she cant touch and feel the colors.Sometimes we have to learn to let kids free and she enjoyed painting with hands more(though she got paint on her face and clothes as well but it was okay, i gave her bath afterwards).

Tips:

Keep  old clothes/apron for kids when painting because they will get stained no matter how much you try to play it clean. That way kids and mums both wont have to worry about the clothes and will focus on enjoying the painting session.

Always make sure that kids do painting under your supervision, you don't want them to paint your walls(removing paint from the walls wont be fun for you).

Have fun painting:)

Dahi Bhalay

Source:Fauzia's Kitchen

Prep Time: 45 minutes    Cook Time: 30 minutes          Yield: 7-8 servings

Ingredients for Bhallay:

Maash daal     2 cups

Ginger paste   2 teaspoon

Garlic paste    1/2 teaspoon

Salt                 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin powder1 teaspoon

Green chilli     1

Yogurt             2 table spoons

Baking soda    a pinch

Water              1/4 cup

 Ingredients for assembling final dish:

Yogurt                  2 cups

Sugar                    1 table spoon

Salt                       1 tea spoon

Red chilli powder 1 tea spoon

Cumin powder      1/2 tea spoon

Method:

Soak Maash daal overnight or for about 6-7 hours. Drain all the water out of daal and put the first set of ingredients in the blender and blend until the mixture is smooth, the consistency should be medium thick. Don't add more water until needed otherwise the mixture will turn runny enough and make it difficult for you to make bhallas.

Now put the blended mixture into a bowl and whisk with the help of fork or hand whisk for good 5 minutes, this will make bhallas light and fluffy.Cover mixture with a piece of cloth for 15 minutes and then mix it again for one more minute and now time to heat oil in the frying pan.

When the oil is hot enough to fry then lower down the flame to medium. Now carefully lower tablespoon of mixture in oil and fry until golden. Place on kitchen towels to remove excess oil.

Once bhallas are done, take a bowl of warm water, add salt in it and mix. Dunk bhallas in water for about 2 minutes.Gently squeeze water out of bhalla by placing them between palms of your hands (do this process on each bhalla individually).

Now it's time to use second set of ingredients list, Put salt, sugar, red chilli powder and cumin powder and yogurt in a bowl, whisk well.I use Greek yogurt which is quite thick in texture so you can always put water or milk to adjust the consistency as per your requirement.

Take a serving bowl, cover the bottom with bhallas , dont over crowd or put bhallas on top of each other. Pour yogurt over bhallas and cover them well. Drizzle Tamarind Sauce(i did not drizzle tamarind sauce on bhallas in the picture but without it bhallas taste bland so it is a must). Sprinkle some chaat masala as per your linking. Cover dish with a cling sheet or lid  and put in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes so that yogurt is absorbed in bhallas .

Enjoy!

Halwa Puri Chanay

Falling leaves

Allah's creativity never ceases to amaze me, the color combinations,patterns everything so beautiful mashaAllah.

Autumn Must Haves

Since we are bidding Good Byes to summer, it is about time we prepare ourselves for beautiful weather of falling leaves, AUTUMN. I used to enjoy winter in Pakistan as much as i enjoy summer here in the UK. Reason is known to everyone who knows what it's like being in Pakistan in summer season. But I am getting used to and pretty much started liking UK winter as well. Anyway, since summer season is almost over  minus one or two sunny days here n there.So, i thought why not prepare for autumn. I have actually put my sandals and a couple of summer dresses away to make space for some shawls, jumpers, scarves etc.

There are a few things that i always keep in my fall/winter wardrobe.

CAPE SHAWLS

I am in love with shawls be it any form: cape shawls or pashmina shawls or kashmiri shawls etc. Cape shawl looks so classy on both western and desi clothing.It is good enough for autumn chill and give you a very stylish look without any effort. Above two are from NEXT

COAT

Who can deny the need of nice coat in autumn/winter? This one is from Next as well. You can buy it one or two basic colors and pair it with any outfit unless you are a coat collector and buy it in any possible color available.

SCARVES

Scarves can add a very different look to your outfit. Even a plain simple dress can outshine with a nice scarf. As in summer we can easily get away with colorful clothing but colors can get a bit dull in winter so nice colorful scarves can make your outfit not only interesting but also give you a nice cover up.

BOOTS

Investing in a good boots is a MUST. I buy one or two pair, wear till it gets battered and then buy a new one.(this has started post marriage) When i got married, i went nuts shopping shoes. SO ya i am less insane now hehe....